Sailor Myth
by Sailor Myth
Summary: Yes, it's based on Sailormoon, but we promise it's like nothing you've ever seen before. SMyth is a collaborative fanfic; please, oh please, R&R! Someone? Anyone!?
1. One Lovebird and a Partridge in a Pear T...

Hello, and welcome to the collaborative fanfiction of [Sailor Myth][1], an online role-playing game based on Sailormoon, but with different senshi and a different location. Our game takes place in the city of Roanoke, Virginia, and our senshi are named after everything from Greek and Roman deities to stars, constellations, and angels!

Our purpose in posting our chapters up here on ff.net is twofold. First, we'd like to get some feedback on our writing, and second, we're always looking for new players to join us! If you're a writer, we'd love to have whatever senshi is running around in your head join our menagerie.

For more information, please check out our [main page][2], or send an e-mail to [Emiko][3], our GM. She'll be glad to answer any questions you may have! Thanks for your attention. We hope you enjoy the show!

**Chapter One:**  
One Lovebird and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

_by [Emiko][3] and [Rachel][4]_

* * *

It was two weeks before school began. Everywhere, children prepared for the inevitable return of teachers, books, and the dreaded homework. At the same time, they took more time as they did things, pausing to enjoy the last few days of laziness. It was a horrible combination of content and worry.

Sophia Dunn surveyed the parcel of land before her. To an outsider, this was nothing more than a collection of trees and dirt, but to Sophie, this was home. It was not walls or a bed that made these woods home, for both those things were back over the hill at the house. It was a sense of belonging that Sophie knew indicated home.

Stooping to avoid a low branch, Sophie hiked further into the woods. Her parents owned little land, but the neighbors were kind enough to allow Sophie to enter their large, forested backyards. As she walked along, Sophie heard a sound behind her and turned to see a bird following her. She watched as it approached, then turned and continued.

After she had hiked a bit more, she turned and saw that the bird was still there. "Weird thing," she muttered, ignoring it. It was a cloudy day, and rain was a good enough excuse for Sophie to turn back, so she did, making a wide circle around the bird.

Despite Sophie's obvious avoidance, the bird followed. It was a partridge. That fact was odd, since Sophie had not seen any partridges in the area. She knew what animals were here and what should not be. "Go away, shoo," she told the bird, waving her hand at it.

"How rude! You haven't even listened to what I have to say!"

Sophie froze and looked at the bird. "Man, am I ever trippin'," she said aloud, and turned away.

"I said," the bird persisted, "that you hadn't even bothered to hear me out, and you're walking away!"

"I must not be getting enough sleep," Sophie reasoned, continuing away.

"Hey! Stop! That's an order!"

Whirling around, Sophie glared at the bird. "You are not giving me orders," she told it, and promptly turned away.

The bird went on the offensive, running forward in its squat manner and ramming full-force into her leg. It was a rather big bird, about a foot in length, but the speed of the motion was less than impressive. "I'm not some sort of dream or hallucination, young lady, and I'll thank you to listen to what I had to say!"

Clearly, this was one hallucination that was not going to go away easily, so Sophie turned and crouched down next to the bird. "Go ahead."

"Thank you," said the bird curtly. "I suppose introductions are an order. My name is Perdix."

A long moment of silence passed before Sophie realized the bird wanted to know her name. "Sophia. Now why are you following me, Perdix?"

"I have something to give you."

Before Sophie had time to react, the obstinate bird reached up and pecked at her necklace. Sophie toppled backwards in surprise and anger. "Hey!" she yelled, "that belonged to my grandmother! Hands off!" The terminology seemed to be a bit strange considering she was speaking to a bird, but the meaning was clear.

"I didn't harm it. Look."

Sophie did as she was bidden and was surprised to find a blue-green gem hanging on the necklace. "How-?" she managed to choke out.

"Now say the words 'Metis Titaness Power, Make Up!'"

"That's really corny."

Annoyed, Perdix snapped, "Just do it."

Sophie sighed and hoped this was going to end soon. "Fine. Metis Titaness Power, Make Up," Sophie repeated drolly. She then leapt to her feet as the pendant began to emit light. The light encircled Sophie, causing her skin to tingle, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them, the bird was still there, but something definitely felt different. "Whoa!" she exclaimed as she looked down at her new clothing through an unfamiliar mask. A rather smug Perdix shuffled up to Sophie and peered at her.

"So, do you believe me now?"

"What's to believe?" replied Sophie. "I'm out of here!" And with that, she took off at a run.

* * *

When she was sure she was away from the persistent bird, Sophie looked down at herself. The costume certainly was strange. And it seemed to be sticking. Sophie's hiking cloths had completely disappeared. There was no way she was going home like this. Given her options, what choice was there? Sophie gritted her teeth and began to return to where the partridge had been. "Perdix!" she called, hoping nobody else was in the area. "Perdix, where are you?"

"I knew you'd come back!" Perdix exclaimed in a fake English accent.

"Tell me how to get back to my normal clothes, you little freak."

"Well, if you're going to say it like that, how could I possibly resist?"

Sophie thought that bird would grudgingly agree to her request, but she was wrong, for Perdix turned away and began to walk off. "Hey!" shouted Sophie. "Where are you going? Tell me how to get out of this junk!" His small head curved around and looked at her.

"I've heard better," he said cryptically.

"Fine," she replied, gritting her teeth. "Please help me get out of these clothes and into my old stuff."

"What do I get for it?"

Sophie's mouth dropped open. "You did this to me! What could you possibly want? Birdseed?"

"Birdseed would be nice, but no. As you are one of the Graikos Senshi and are therefore a member of my team, I insist upon living in your house."

Thoroughly disgusted, Sophie turned away and started marching back towards home. Maybe she could get inside without being seen.

"Wait! Sophia, I'm sorry! I'll tell you what to do."

Sophie quickly turned around and marched back to Perdix. "Hold your hand over your choker and concentrate on returning to your old form," he said. Sophie quickly did so and felt the tingling sensation run down her body again. When she opened her eyes, her hiking clothes were back. "I swear to you, Sophia, I am not lying. You have been infused with the spirit of Metis, the Titaness of Wisdom, and I need your help to defeat our enemies. If you don't chose to work with me, the Astronomia will kill you, so please say you'll help me discover the rest of the Graikos?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe you'd better explain it on the way home?"

Perdix happily did so as the pair walked towards home.

* * *

A certain Letalis Forma stared at her homework, exasperated. What was she to do? With a forlorn look, she solved the next math problem and stared longingly out the window. Heaving a great sigh, she thought of all the fun she could be having at the mall. Spending time with her friends, grabbing every article of clothing that was on sale, flirting with guys.

It just wasn't fair.

So very unfair. 

"I wanna go shopping!" Leta yelled, slamming her pencil down.

"Not until you finish your homework, dear!" her mothered hollered from downstairs.  
  
This was not only unfair, it was unjust! She could be outside, giggling and playing around, and she was stuck trying to remember pre-algebra or whatever the hell was on that paper. The calling for the mall was too great, so Leta picked up her pencil and began working on her homework again.

A certain Perseus watched with mild interest at the scene in front of him. It was obvious Leta wanted to be anywhere but here, and she couldn't. Misery for her, bliss for him. It made him simply delighted to see unhappy people. Alright, so it was a mean liking, but he enjoyed it none-the-less. As Leta let out another groan of frustration, Percy noticed his water dish wasn't full. He let out a loud squawk to notify his owner of this calamity.

"Go get it yourself, bird," she grumbled, trying to focus on her work.

Percy did not give up, however; it wasn't like him. He began squawking insanely, flapping his wings and jumping up and down on his perch.

"SHUT UP!" Leta yelled, throwing a shoe absently at Percy's cage. It luckily missed.

Percy sulked upon his perch, glancing at his water dish again. It wasn't fair! If he were human again... if he were human again... none of this would be happening! he thought angrily, snapping a piece of bird seed into his beak and crunching on it loudly. Wait, now there was an idea! Human! Talking to Leta! It would work. Percy cleared his throat, and said smoothly, "Listen, I would like water for my dish, now."

Leta froze in the middle of her work, and turned around slowly in her chair. "Did you just... talk!?" she gasped, her eyes widening cutely.

"I spoke, yes. Now, get me some water for my dish!"

Leta didn't move, just continued to stare in shock.

Percy sighed, and ruffled his feathers. It was going to be a long day. Leta was still gaping at him, dumbfounded. Well, now was a good as time as never. "Oh, while you're at it, ponder this. Your Sailor Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Here is your transformation item. And don't tell anyone, they won't believe you," Percy said calmly, and from the bottom of his cage, pulled out her locket.

Leta continued to stare, confused. Slowly standing up, she inched over to the door, and ran down the stairs screaming.

Her parents never believed her when she said that her parrot was talking to her.

"I told you so. Now, where is my water?"

   [1]: http://www.geocities.com/sailormyth/
   [2]: http://
   [3]: mailto:admeapiett@aol.com
   [4]: mailto:bgklein@msn.com



	2. Bathroom Ballistics!

Hello, and welcome to the collaborative fanfiction of [Sailor Myth][1], an online role-playing game based on Sailormoon, but with different senshi and a different location. Our game takes place in the city of Roanoke, Virginia, and our senshi are named after everything from Greek and Roman deities to stars, constellations, and angels!

Our purpose in posting our chapters up here on ff.net is twofold. First, we'd like to get some feedback on our writing, and second, we're always looking for new players to join us! If you're a writer, we'd love to have whatever senshi is running around in your head join our menagerie.

For more information, please check out our [main page][2], or send an e-mail to [Emiko][3], our GM. She'll be glad to answer any questions you may have! Thanks for your attention. We hope you enjoy the show!

**Chapter Two:**  
Bathroom Ballistics!

_by [Emiko][3], Arainia, [Rachel][4], [Chandra][5], and [Tami][6]_

* * *

"Sophia! Wake up!"

"Wuh--" came a sleepy groan. Sophia Dunn, always a light sleeper, opened her eyes and looked at the bird perched on her chest. "Puh-Perdix?"

Happily, the bird dug his claws into Sophie's skin. "Rise and shine, Sophia! Today is the first day of the new school year, and you'll want to get an early start."

Sophie rolled over onto her side, dumping Perdix on the ground, and stared at the flashing lights on her alarm clock. She looked at the display for a few moments before the meaning of the numbers finally sunk in.

"You woke me up at four in the effin' morning!?" she howled. Perdix, newly recovered from his unceremonious dumping on the floor, bobbed his head.

After three weeks of hiding the bird, Sophie was used to Perdix in many ways. This was not one of them. Rolling over, she threw her pillow in Perdix's general direction and mumbled, "Wake me up at seven."

* * *

Today was the first day of school. Letalis Forma woke up at 5 A.M. so she could get her makeup, hair, and clothing perfect. After hours of work, the finished product was positively stunning. The locket matched perfectly, too. Percy glared at her cynically. "Your skirt is too short, the shirt too tight, the heels too large, too much make-up..." he criticized, looking her up and down.

"Be quiet bird," she replied lazily, sitting down on her bed.  
  
"You leave in five minutes," the bird ordered, scowling like only a bird could.

"You can't boss me around," Leta retorted, hurling her pajamas at Percy's cage.

"Huh? Oh! It got dark! HALP!" Perseus cried, squawking madly within his cage. Leta ignored him and checked her make-up one last time.

* * *

"Good morning class," said the teacher jovially as students filed in and began to take their seats. "I am Mr. Campbell, and I am your Latin teacher."

That was when Leta stopped paying attention.

Latin class. Another word for pain.

As Mr. Campbell droned on about a topic that was a cure for insomnia, Jace T. Kellen boredly swirled patterns in the dust on her desk. (The 'T' stood for 'Timothea', but Jace told anyone who bothered to ask that it stood for 'Titus'.)

Eventually, for the want of a distraction, Jace started humming in desperation. After a couple of minutes, she had picked up quite a nice tune. She put words to it inside her head and was pleased with the results.

-Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Class.-

Why did I sign up for this class, anyway? I don't even like Latin! It's the only language nobody speaks, besides double-dutch and Egyptian.

-And the teacher he is talking, but he's talking out his a... -

"Miss Kellen?"

Jace looked up, momentarily startled out her stupor.

Mr. Campbell coughed politely. "If you'd deign to come out of your musical reverie and get your attention back to me?"

"My aunt's camel has fallen in the mirage," Jace informed him in flawless Latin.

He looked rather stunned.

"That's the only thing I can say," she said again, with false cheeriness.

"Ah... that's... very nice, Miss Kellen," he said, flustered. "But if you'd turn your attention back to syntax..?"

"Yes, well," she snorted, and opened her textbook.

Mr. Campbell gave her a startled look, much like a deer in the headlights, and turned back to the snickering class.

"Knew I should've taken Spanish," Jace muttered.

The redhead was not in a good mood, but often the phrase 'not in a good mood' applied to Jace meant 'in the best mood possible'. However, this was a truly bad mood. Not only had her coffee and sugar supply run out that morning, but it was the first day of school and she was in a silly, irrelevant class full of twittering blondes. Jace smirked; a bird probably had a higher IQ than most of the students around her.

Mr. Campbell gave Jace a sharp book and she tried to docilely turn back to Latin syntax and grammar, resting her head on her hands.

Oh, God. Another year.

Keeping her eyes open as best she could, Jace continued to listen to the drone of her teacher explaining a language long fallen into disuse.

Though similarly bored by the situation, Sophia Dunn fell into the small percentage of the class that found Latin useful. It was, as the teacher repeatedly stressed, the source of 65% of the words in the English language. That meant Sophie could use it. But these classmates... Sophie found it hard not to stare at Jace's wheelchair.

A sudden motion by Sophie's foot surprised her away from her reverie. The bird, Sophie remembered. The stupid bird. Sophie shot her hand up.

"Yes, Miss, ah..." Mr. Campbell stuttered, trying to remember Sophie's name.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Sure, just take the pass." He pointed to the wooden board with the words "Campbell Pass" stenciled on it. Every teacher had one. Sophie reached down, shouldered her backpack, and went for the pass. Just as she was about to make it out the door, Mr. Campbell stopped her. "Excuse me, but you're going with your backpack?"

With a malicious grin, Sophie said, "I hope that's not a problem," and dashed away down the hallway to the bathroom. Before the teacher could send anyone after her she had disappeared inside the hallowed smoking stalls and opened her bag.

"Thank the gods! I was beginning to suffocate in there!"

"Perdix!" Sophie growled. "You almost got me in huge trouble back there! What could possibly be so important that you'd want to make so much noise?"

A bit indignant, Perdix turned his beak up at Sophie. "Well, don't expect me to tell you now, young lady," he said in his most parental tone. "Hey, I'm in the girls' bathroom--"

The partridge's realization was cut short by a strong hand around his neck. "Listen up, birdbrain. You're going to tell me why you made so much noise or I swear you'll never make any noise again!"

"Gods, okay, just keep your hands off me," Perdix squawked, ruffling his neck feathers in an attempt to straighten them. "I was trying to tell you that three of your classmates have Graikos potential."

"What?"

"They're senshi. Like you."

The conversation was suddenly cut short by the presence of a third figure in the room.

Acacia Aisling pushed open the bathroom door hesitantly, as if to incline the notion she didn't want to be there. She had been sent by Mr. Campbell to retrieve Sophie, but she hadn't volunteered. She was listening attentively to the teacher when Sophie had excused herself from the classroom. She wasn't ecstatic to bring the confusing person back, for she enjoyed Latin, as well as any other subject she could grasp. She gave herself up to school, she had nothing else to enjoy, and home was a depressing, lonely place with her dad gone on a business trip.

I guess Mr. Campbell had the idea that Sophie was my companion, Acacia thought. _He doesn't stop to think that I have no companions._

She tapped on the tile wall ever so lightly.

"Sophie?" she whispered in her unique British accent. "Sophie, are you there?"

"Uh, yeah," Sophie answered, staring at Perdix. There was no time for her to get rid of the bird. "Shit," she whispered to herself as she opened the door, careful to keep her body in between Acacia and Perdix.

"She's one!" an overly enthusiastic voice exclaimed. An overly enthusiastic and identifiably male voice. With a squawk and shuffle, Perdix shot forward between Sophie's legs and jumped up in front of Acacia. "She's one of the senshi, Sophia!"

Acacia gasped. She gaped.

"A-a-a s-senshi..." she stammered breathlessly, eyes wide as silver dollars. "A-a-a talking b-b-b-......."

And fell flat in a faint.

For a few moments, Sophie looked at Acacia's unmoving form, then she turned to Perdix. "Now look what you've done, you dumb bird!" she growled at him. "No way I'm going to be able to explain this to Mr. Campbell."

"I didn't expect that to happen!" Perdix twittered, hopping around Acacia in a worried fashion. Sophie paid him no heed, instead taking out her lighter. "What are you going to do with that?"

Determination on her face, Sophie marched out of the bathroom and the building. She stopped in front of a blue trash can in front of the door and promptly lit it on fire. That done, she marched back into the building and pulled the fire alarm located conveniently just outside the bathroom.

As expected, there were a few moments of nothing. Students were so used to fire alarms they never made a big deal out of them. Sophie used the brief pause to yell for Perdix. He appeared at the bathroom door looking confused.

"What's going on? What's that noise?"

"The fire alarm. Now listen up, bird." Sophie had to talk fast; classroom doors were beginning to open. "The kids in my class will pass right by us. I want you to tell me who the senshi are supposed to be and I'll just direct them towards us. Got it?"

"Sophia, that's genius! The girl in the wheelchair and that pretty blonde. I'll wait inside and make sure our friend doesn't go anywhere."

If anyone noticed the bird just inside the doorway of the girls' bathroom, they stayed quiet. Sophie scanned the crowd and easily spotted her first target. With a triumphant smile, she strode into the crowd and grabbed Jace's wheelchair.

Jace's day had not been going well, so her mood had changed from negative to positively grumpy to downright hellish. So when Sophia grabbed her wheelchair, she was not a very happy camper, to say the least.

Her head swung around so fast passers-by were practically decapitated by her spiky bangs. "Look, honey," she snarled. "I know I'm sexy, but if you don't let go right now, you're gonna get more than a police protection form stamped on your pretty little face - "

Eyes widening as she realized Sophia was in fact not letting go, and even more heinous, pulling her away, Jace began scrabbling in her backpack for some sort of bludgeon in which to fend the girl off. Hah! If this girl thought she could somehow molest Jace T. Kellen in the middle of a fire alarm, she had another thing coming!

* * *

Letalis looked around stupidly as the alarm suddenly burst into shrill noise. "Ouch! That hurts my ears!" she complained, covering her largish ears. As the class slowly began to pour out, she looked around, obviously confused. She shrugged, and grabbed her backpack, and began to walk outside. A couple of guys stared after her as she left the room, and she flushed, and blew a kiss to one. She never took anything that involved school very seriously. Then, she saw this odd girl, bird, and a girl in a wheelchair all clustered around each other. "Ooo! GOSSIP!" she squeaked, and ran over, hiding behind the corner to overhear their conversation.

Thankfully, it seemed Jace had not yet managed to find a proper bludgeoning tool. Sophie was having a hard time explaining what exactly she was doing with the wheelchair over the hubbub of the crowd and was now wrestling with the stronger Jace for control of the vehicle. Leta managed to position herself to where she was unnoticed, but able to overhear perfectly.

As the last students exited, Jace fixed Sophie with a death-inducing glare and jerked herself away. "Wait!" Sophie said, trying to grab the chair again.

"Yes, please do wait! You will be very interested to hear what I have to say!"

A large gray bird came skipping out from the bathroom and launched himself into the air, landing perfectly on the arm of Jace's chair. "Greetings," he informed her, "My name is Perdix. I would be ever-so-appreciative if you didn't faint."

Jace stared for exactly 5.4 seconds before reversing her wheelchair back so fast it bumped into the washbasin. Perdix let out a squawk of surprise, but only fluttered further down the wheelchair arm. Unfortunately for him, Jace had now managed to get her Science textbook out of her bag and was holding it grimly above the unfortunate partridge's head.

"I don't know what was in my Lucky Charms this morning, but just because I'm tripping doesn't mean that I'm going to let a talking bird called Puddix - "

"Perdix!"

" - get in my..." Growing horror registered over the girls face. "You really _are_ talking!"

Sophia watched in mild amusement as the redhead dropped her science book with a slam and began prodding the bird unmercifully in all sorts of sore places.

"Where's the microphone? Or the machinery? Or your battery flap?" Placing her fingers gently on his neck and finding a darting heartbeat, she blinked suspiciously. "You _aren't_ a robot. Dear Holy Mary Mother on Toast! The animal heads are _talking_ to me!

From just around the corner, Leta's large violet eyes widened at the sound of a bird talking. At first, she thought Percy had followed her, but this bird was not Percy. She decided to take this moment to step out. "Hiya! I'm Letalis Forma, call me Leta! I couldn't help overhearing your conversation, and wondering how odd it was that you have a talking bird, because I have one too!" Leta squealed merrily, bouncing up and down on the soles of her feet.

"Isn't it exciting?! So, who are you people? Sailor ...erm... Talking Bird?" she asked Percy, arching a brow. She then shrugged, and pasted the grin back on her face. "I'm Sailor Aphrodite, I think. I might be dreaming..." she began, looking as thoughtful as she could. "But then ago, its cool! So, what's the birds name? My is Perseus, but I call him Percy. He hates it, so that is why I just call him it more." she added, smiling and bouncing cheerfully.

At this new revelation, Jace stared at first Perdix then the chirpy, bubbly Leta. "Oh, great," she muttered. "Stuck between a blonde and a bird place." Clearing her throat, she raised her voice. "Aha. So this is some kind of cult, right? The cult of talking birds? Well, I'm sure as hell not gonna run up into the mountains and smoke weed with you, and I'm pretty damn sure I've seen _her_ face - " Jace jabbed her finger out at Sophia - " - on a milk carton, and that girl on the floor's stoned, right? Nooo thanks. I didn't know Fleming was so full of nuts.

Meanwhile, Acacia's leg twisted spasmodically. She turned her head slowly, eyes tightened shut. Ever so carefully, she opened her eyes, gazing at the talking people, one of which was in a wheelchair. She heard the word 'stoned', and scrambled to her feet.

"I just wanted to tell you that Mr. Campbell needs to know where you went," she uttered lamely, and wobbled over to the *happy* bunch of people, regaining confidence with each step.

"Who can explain this, exactly? I'd like to hear a summary of this," she said, eyes darkened, arms crossed. "Someone please tell me the bird talks so I don't think I'm gaga."

She covered her mouth with her hands.

"Do people who are gaga know they're gaga? Or do they think other people are gaga? Do people who are crazy say they're gaga?!"

From his perch on Jace's wheelchair, Perdix ruffled his feathers. "I'd care more about your sanity if everyone would just listen to me. We haven't much time--"

"Oh, get off it, Perdix. It'll take them another ten minutes to put out that blaze and they won't let anyone back into the halls until then."

Everyone looked at Sophie.

"What? You think I just pulled the fire alarm for fun? I set a fire first."

Acacia dropped her gaze to the ground.

"How do you know who we all are? This is so weird, and yet... so familiar... what will happen?"

She averted her eyes to Perdix, and started wringing her hands in distress, trying to calm herself. She was trembling.

"Never mind," snapped Perdix, directing the focus of attention back to himself. "I am Perdix, leader of the Graikos Senshi, and thus your leader as well!" A groan could be heard from Sophie, but Perdix ignored it and continued. "There is a great war coming... Our enemies from the past, the Romanus Senshi, have returned and now we must fight! Sophia here is Sailor Metis, the Titaness of Wisdom. Each of you has your own senshi identity waiting to be reawakened..."

Suddenly, Perdix stopped and looked at Leta. "You already know of your identity, don't you?"

Leta looked thoughtful and then nodded to Perdix's question. "Yeah, I know who I am. The Goddess of Love and Beauty... I AM APHRODITE!" she yelled, perhaps a bit too loud. When everyone scowled at her, she looked nervous, and then dismissed it with an innocent "Whoops!" A moment later, she asked Perdix, "Hey, you're our leader?" and began poking at his wing. "You don't look much like a leader. You look more like a bird..." she commented, and then stopped poking him.

"Now, what's this about Rompainus senshi?" she asked, straightening up a bit to look strong.

"Romanus." corrected a voice behind her, with a frustrated squawk. Leta groaned, as Percy hopped onto her shoulder. "Everyone, meet Percy." she grumbled, shoving him off her shoulder where he soon flapped upon her head. "Hello senshi. And Perdix, you are NOT the leader." Percy said cheerfully, ruffling his feathers a bit as Leta swatted at him to get him off her lovely blonde hair. "MY HAIR!" she moaned and Percy flew off, pulling a couple strands off hair with him. He too came to rest on Jace's wheel chair.

"What is it with me and birds?" the redhead muttered mournfully. "I don't like birds. I hate birds. In fact, the only time when birds even slightly amuse me is when they're stuffed with breadcrumbs and sage and things." Jace slumped in her chair, Percy perched on top of her head, and shook her chin. "Okay. I can believe that there are two extremely retarded birds in the room who can talk. I can believe that that blonde chick is on Prozac - "

"Hey!"

" - hell, aren't all blondes on Prozac anyway?" Jace shifted in her wheelchair and turned her steely gaze towards Perdix again. "But if you expect me to believe some crackpot story that we're all reincarnation of some dead Greek people and that we officially have Enemies with some incredibly shitty name, then I officially have a bridge to sell all of you and I want to get out of this drughouse and go and poke up at that fire."

"Prozac my ass..." Leta muttered, having the sudden urge to punch Jace. She managed to control it, though.

"You don't have to believe me," Perdix said simply to the spiky-haired Jace, "Just say the words 'Hephaestos Deus Power, Make-Up.' And don't tell me they sound stupid. I already heard that one from Sophie."

Leta nodded towards Jace. "It's true! See, watch. APHRODITE DEUS POWER, MAAKKEE-UPPP!" she yelled. A giant clam swallowed her up and she re-appeared as Aphrodite.

"YOU IMBECILE!" screamed Perdix, looking extraordinarily glum. "Someone could have heard and seen you!" he yelled, his eyes blazing like only a birds could.

Aphrodite seemed a little shocked, but shot back with a vengeance: "And what about a talking bird, huh?!"

"And me?" Acacia said nervously.  
  
"You'll be needing this--" Perdix opened his wing and a black skull fell out. It landed on the floor and rolled to Acacia's feet. "Take that and say 'Hades Deus Power, Make Up.'"  


Acacia picked up the eerie skull, and fingered it delicately, smiling mysteriously, almost grinning. She was beginning to show her dark side, her true form, as Sailor Hades.  
  
"When will I be able to try it?" she asked quietly, as to not arouse suspicion. She felt calm and collected now.

Jace took one look at the proceedings and about-faced her wheelchair. "Nice skirt," she informed the pink-garbed Aphrodite, and began to promptly roll out of the bathroom. No way was she going to stay any longer in a room full of... full of stuff she was inherently sure she hadn't seen more than she had to. Jace Kellen did not want to make with the bibbity bobbity boo, and if Jace Kellen didn't want to do something, then Jace Kellen damn well didn't do it. "Have a nice life, in rehab or otherwise," she said as way of goodbye, and made for the exit.

"Hey!" Perdix yelped loudly, causing Jace to stop. She gave the irate partridge a cold glare. Unperturbed, Perdix took two hops forward and looked up at her with his beady black eyes. "If you're going to go, at least humor me a moment and say the phrase I told you. What's the worse that could happen? It's not like saying some crummy phrase is going to cause you physical pain or mental anguish."  
  
"It just might," Sophie mumbled, barely audible, but she had to admit a good deal of curiosity herself. It was up to her to try a new tactic. "Forget it, Perdix, we don't need some legless wonder. It's not like she can fight. Probably too scared to try saying a bunch of stupid, harmless words." Sophie smirked at Jace, eager to provoke a violent reaction.

Immediately Jace wheeled around, throwing her backpack at the wall angrily and clenching her fists. "Legless wonder, huh?" she said through clenched teeth. "I swear - if I just - " She bit her lip to try to get some control over herself, eyes like granite and body trembling with rage. "I'll say your stupid damn phrase, and then I'm going to _eat_ that bird, pull _your_ head open and butter your brains all over the gym field! Hephaestos Deus Power, Make-Up. Go - "  
  
The redhead was cut off abruptly by the feeling of being yanked forcibly into the air. Her wheelchair disappeared so quickly she didn't even have the time to think about it - and then the flame erupted.  
  
She tried to scream but found that the order didn't quite get from her brain to her mouth - and although the fire felt red-hot, it was not uncomfortable, in some strange way. It didn't burn, that was for sure, it just... made itself a part of her, seething into her skin.  
  
There was no time for fright. Another presence was making itself felt; silver-white and shimmery, dripping onto her, enclosing her in it's safe brightness - molten metal, Jace decided - forming a shell around her. However, it began flowing _in_ to her thighs rather than hardening around them, which was a most disturbing feeling.  
  
Then brightness again, the daylight filtering through the windows of the dank bathroom, and shimmering sparks flying off her body! The metal had gone, but it had left something behind... something heavy on her thighs, intimately connected to her, alive…  
  
It had changed her clothes, too - Jace dimly felt whispery, flame-warm fabric brushing against her arms and tight cloth around her torso, with something segmented and soft tightly packed around her thighs like a skirt. It felt comfortable, like a second skin, and... right, somehow.  
  
-I am Sailor Hephaestos-, whispered a small voice inside her head, and she realized she was standing and staring at the faces of the blonde and the dark-haired one and both of them looked smug and so did the bird if birds COULD look smug and she was standing, standing, standing...!  
  
Hephaestos fell abruptly, flat on her face, too amazed to be humiliated and too confused to feel angry.  
  
"Sailor Hephaestos?" That was the bird. She didn't give a damn.  
  
-Flex-, her mind told her foot - her foot! - and it did. Strong and sure, quick to respond.  
  
-Flex-, she told her knee, and her foot kicked out powerfully at the floor. Absently, she felt a tile shatter. Oops.  
  
As unsure of her legs as a toddler learning, Hephaestos grabbed onto a sink for support and hauled herself up, unwieldy. Not because of a lack of fine legs, but for her mind's inability to comprehend that she now had two of them.  
  
Blinking away sudden, foolish tears, she grabbed painfully at Sophia's arm. "Who's the legless wonder now, then?" she asked, voice a triumphant rasp.

"Hey hey hey! Break it up you two! We are a team, remember?" Leta said sweetly, wrenching Hephie's grasp off of Sophie's arm and stepping between the two, accidentally knocking the unsure Jace down. "Oops..."

Acacia fingered the delicate skull, knowing it was now her turn to reveal  
her power. She gave a great sigh, and called for her destiny.  
  
"Hades Deus Power, Make up!"  
  
A cool sensation came over Acacia, black ribbons encircled her until she was completely covered up. She tried to cry out, but her voice was lost in the swirling ebony winds surrounding her. Then, they dissolved, everything dissolved, leaving her in her fuku, skull on her lavender ribbon choker. The fuku contained ebony boots that went up to the knee. She had a lavender skirt that went down to the lower part of her thigh as well as a lavender tube top, and lavender gloves that went up to the elbow. Over this she wore a sleeveless black trench coat kept partially closed with a lavender belt. In the middle of her belt was a black bow and another one on the lower back of her trench coat. A golden tiara with an opal in the middle rested on her head.  
  
Acacia gazed at her new uniform, and nearly passed out again. "Sailor Hades..."

By now, Perdix was in a giddy state. "Great! Wonderful! Superplenderiferous!" he exclaimed, hopping around.

"That's not a word," Sophie informed him.

Everyone looked at Sophie. She had been standing in the corner, not doing much of anything the entire time.

Jace finally managed to haul herself to a safe position by gripping at a sink. "So, do you get to transform?" she asked caustically. "Or don't you get one of these shitty barbie-doll outfits?"

"I don't want to transform," Sophie informed the group, agitating Perdix to no end.

"Yes, you do," the redhead shot right back. "I wear bows, she's in pink, and Miss Hades looks like a bubbly goth. You have to join in the humiliation."

Groaning at the combined peer pressure of the group, Sophie finally relented and put her hand to her necklace. "I still don't want to, but fine. Metis Titaness Power, Make Up!" A swirl of energy shot out from between her fingers, encompassing her in a kaleidoscope of blue and green light. The light faded, leaving Sailor Metis in Sophie's place. Rather than smile or pose, she just stood there and frowned. "I hope you're happy."

"Yeah, I'm ha--" Perdix began to retort, but stopped.

"What is it, Perdix?"

Perdix took a moment to collect himself. "I sense... I sense the enemy!"

"... we have an enemy? Who, the fashion police?" Jace clumsily slipped again, careering back until she landed with a bump onto her rear.

A muscle under Acacia's eye twitched at Jace's earlier remark.

"A 'Bubbly Goth'? Is that what I look like!?" She turned to Perdix. "I didn't CHOOSE this outfit, I didn't choose this job! I don't think I am as skilled or powerful as you predict I am! So, why was I picked!? Out of six billion people, why did you come to me?!"

Poor Perdix was left looking stunned for a few moment. "I, er..." He never got the chance to offer up an explanation, for at that very moment, the bathroom door opened.

"Wow, lookee here Venustus! It's a Graikos picnic," a dry and slightly nasal voice screeched.

"Cupid, shut up and get to it," said the undersized dove perched on the pink-clad girl's shoulder. Venustus turned to Perdix and said in voice dripping with sarcasm, "Hey Perdy, long time no see, eh?"

"Puh-kuh-tuh-buh-duh--" Perdix sputtered, barely making any sense. He began to hop around, trying madly to manage something intelligible. Finally, he squawked, "It's a Romanus! Kill it!" Of course, that only made everyone stare at him in a condescending manner.

Snuff out a damn blonde in a stupid miniskirt? After giving Perdix a withering look, Sailor Hephaestos, nothing loath, immediately picked up her large textbook used earlier in an attempt to kill Perdix. Clumsily ambling over to a surprised Cupid, she swung it in a wide arc towards the pink-uniformed girl's head. The book was heavy and hardback, and the force behind Hephaestos' fists could easily give concussions - especially armed with a tome of genetics!

The rather large, heavy textbook slammed into wall with a sharp, echoing 'thwack.' Minute cracks started to form in the wall rather than Cupid's head, as Hephaestos might have hoped. Cupid, now crouched on the floor, looked up and giggled nervously at the cracks in the brick wall. "Hehe...hehe...that might have hurt-

Venustus interrupted her, sighing with disgust. "Get up! Now!"

"Well, maybe if there was another Romanus here to help me-"

"Shut up and do it!"

"Well, fine, if you're-" Cupid whined, not noticing Hephaestos getting ready for another swing....

Cupid let out a squeak as the book narrowly missed her head for a second time. While it was amusing to watch the Romanus senshi of lust being attacked with a textbook, Venustus had quite enough of this, mostly because he knew he was in danger of becoming a greasy spot on the back of the book. Venustus fluttered over to the area where Perdix was perched, and yelled at the leader of Graikos, "Perdix! Stop that preposterous carrot-top right now! If we're going to fight, we're going to do it correctly!"

Ignoring Venustus, Perdix turned to Metis. "Attack her! Say 'Metis Wisdom Wisecracker!'" Metis rolled her eyes a moment at the stupid phrase, but it was no stupider than "Metis Titaness Power, Make Up," so she quickly said, "Metis Wisdom Wisecracker." Instantly, her hand shot up and a small firecracker formed in her hand. Metis wasted no time in throwing it at Hephaestos and Cupid. It landed squarely between them and exploded with a large pop. The sound surprised the two fighting girls and caused a short pause in their fight. "Nerf-herder!" Poor Metis stared at her wisecracker, blinking. "Hey, metal legs, put on some pantyhose! You over there! Your ears are bigger than Dumbo's and twice as dumb!"

Poor Aphrodite gaped in shock of the insult, and instantly turned red. Clapping her hands over her ears, she turned to scowl at Metis. "THAT WAS RUDE!" she yelled, over the rush of the insults from the Wisecracker. She then looked desperately at Cupid, and hissed to the bird perched upon her shoulder hurriedly "What do I do!?"

The bird looked thoughtful, and then ruffled his feathers. "Well, I have no clue if this will have effect on the Romanus senshi, but its worth a shot. Say 'Aphrodite Love Realization,'" Percy whispered back, flapping off her shoulder to a sink.

"Aphrodite Love Realization?" she asked, and then somehow her body moved to perform the attack. She put her hands to her heart, and then aimed them at Cupid's heart, shooting a little pink ball at her. Unfortunately, at the time, she was wondering about the other bird guardian, Perdix, and how many guardians there were.

As Cupid stood up, the ball of pink energy hit her straight in the heart. After a few moments of flashing pink light, a slight tingling feeling left her feeling drowsy and lightheaded. She blinked once before her gaze settled on poor Perdix. "Perdix," Cupid said listlessly, "what a wonderful name..."

It took a moment for this to sink in. Perdix gave the Romanus senshi a funny stare, then looked at Aphrodite. Finally, it dawned on him, and he made a frightened dash for Metis' legs. Metis began to laugh at the bird once she figured out that Cupid seemed to be in love with him.

Hephaestos took one look at the cowering bird and the dopey smile on Cupid's face and burst out in raucous laughter, catcalling. "Wooohooo!" she snickered. "Some bird is gonna get some sweet sweet lovin' tonight!"

"Don't just stand around gawking, attack her!" Perdix demanded.

"The honeymoon's over so soon?" Hephaestos still wondered out loud. "And here was I hoping to go to the wedding..."

"Bite me," Perdix said, then hastily reconsidered, backing away slightly.

Aphrodite just stood there, staring at her hands. "Waittasec! Percy! What exactly did I just DO!?" she asked her guardian, staring at him.

Perseus was still on the sink, obviously trying to stifle his laughter. "Making Cupid there fall in love with Perdix was genius, Aphrodite!" Percy crowed, hopping around on his feet.

"I did what!?" Aphrodite yelled, looking shocked.

"You're slow, Aphrodite. Cupid is going to be in love with Perdix for a bit. Just a few minutes."

From his hiding place behind Metis's leg, Perdix moaned, "How could you do this to me?"

Aphrodite blushed, and laughed nervously. "Erm, heh, sorry," she said to Cupid, giggling nervously again.

"Why are you apologizing!? She is the enemy!" Percy cried out, squawking insanely.

"Because, its not nice to make people fall in love with.. erm, birds." she explained, looking sheepish.

"You're going to take more work then I thought. Alright folks, attack!"

Hades sweatdropped and slapped her face.

"Okay.... remind me to deny knowing you people, okay? I've no problem with this."

Her expression turned serious. Risking attention from others, she held out her hands, filling them with black smoke. She then clasped them together, bringing them to her chest. A shard of black emerged from the fingers, then another, until seven ebony rays appeared, and targeted at Cupid. Somewhere from deep inside, Sailor Hades called out:

"Hades Soul Blade!"

Hopefully... Cupid was in for it.

Staring at Perdix, Cupid was totally oblivious to Hades powering up for an attack. She started to say, "Perdix, why are you-" when the seven beams of dark energy struck her. Cupid let out a shriek and then collapsed to the floor.

At that precise moment, the school bell rang, signifying that it was now safe for students to come back inside. That also meant that now everyone had to get back to class -- and fast. Metis looked like she was about de-transform, but Perdix let out the loudest squawk yet.

"Whatever you do, don't de-transform in front of our enemies! If you do, it'll break the glamour! So long as nobody sees you transforming of de-transforming, they won't be able to figure out who we are!"

"Well," Sophie reasoned, "we're running out of options." Outside the door, the sound of students beginning to march down the hall could be heard.

"I have an idea." Metis leaned over and grabbed the unconscious Cupid, dragging her to one of the bathroom stalls.

Hephaestos grabbed the struggling Venustus from his hiding place, skulking underneath the sink, and ignored his curses as she followed Metis into the stall. With pomp and dignity (and not a little sadistic joy) she wedged him inside the crook of Cupid's arm. "If you don't want to have your neck broken, you're going to stay there," she said pleasantly to the bird, and locked the door behind her as she and Metis evacuated (a trick learnt long ago from Fleming veterans).

"So, how the hell do I get out of the skirt now?"

Aphrodite stood there dumbly, watching everyone as they passed with a dull look of surprise in her violet eyes. What the heck was goin' on anyway?

"Now now, allow me to enjoy those skirts for a second." Percy squawked, in a feeble attempt to joke.

"Percy, shut up and tell us how to get back to our normal selves!" the pig-tailed senshi squeaked, snapping out of her trance-like state.

"Hmm, detransforming? Oh, right. Simply concentrate on your former selves. Imagine a picture of your civilian state. It'll all come naturally then," Percy instructed, with a birdlike shrug.

"Hey, if I imagine my hair, makeup, and clothes perfect, will it happen?" Aphrodite pleaded, a bright twinkle beginning to arise in her purple eyes.

"Hopefully her ears'll go down, too," Hephaestos muttered.

"Eh, no, Aphrodite. You go back to how you were before this," Percy explained, exasperated.

"B-but, I don't wanna! My hair is all-"

"Be quiet." Percy grumbled, ruffling his feathers slightly.

Sighing, Aphrodite de-transformed, returning to Letalis Forma. "Oh no, MY HAIR!" she whined, facing a mirror with a look of shock.

"Oh, screw your stupid blonde locks. You're just as ugly as ever," Hephaestos snapped, and turned to the two guardian birds. "What do you mean, civilian form? Do you mean I have to go back to being Little Miss Thighstumps?" The red-haired senshi of the forge looked down admiringly to her shiny new 'legs', experimentally kicking the wall just in case she never got to do it again. "I like these," she noted. "Want to keep 'em."

Perdix was clearly distressed by Hephaestos's argument. He ruffled his feathers once. "Sorry, I can understand how you feel about something like this. It isn't easy for me to be a bird, you know, but it's really impossible for you to stay like this." As he spoke, Metis held her hand to her neck and de-transformed, returning to her identity as Sophia Dunn. "I hate to say, this, Jace," Perdix continued, "but if you don't de-transform you could really get hurt. It takes a lot of energy to transform, you can't just do it and remain transformed forever. You'll get to do it again."

"Simply touching," Sophie interrupted, "but if we don't hurry we won't make  
it back to class and we'll all be in trouble. So get out of that horrendous get-up and let's go." She went to the door and stared at Hades and Hephaestos expectantly.

Jace's face twisted, brows furrowing and gray eyes narrowing. The two opposing camps in her conscience were both large and mighty - one screamed, 'Running over people!' and the other screamed 'Legs!'

However, the prospect of 'hurt' was dubious, and besides, there was the promising prospect of Legs again. And besides, how the hell would she explain the large metal things on her stumps? 'Sorry, I just woke up and they were there!'

Besides, she had an Olympics to qualify for. Limbs could wait. Sailor Hephaestos squinted her eyes shut, and grabbed the bow on her chest in what would turn out to be a nervous habit, and soon she landed back in her chair with an -oof- in her old sexy jean-shorts and t-shirt. Well, that was a relief. That skirt sucked.

While Hephaestos detransformed, Sailor Hades focused on her own body. The last thing she wanted was to miss another class. She already had Latin to make up for. What would she say to her dad when he found out? An evil little though popped into her head, the idea of not mentioning it at all. She quickly pushed it aside, reminding herself of the distaste she had in keeping dirty little secrets.

"Hold on!" she cried anxiously as she struggled to hide her henshin stick and race out of the bathroom at the same time. Colliding with the wall, Acacia managed to head out of the facilities without drawing too many stares, just enough to make her blush furiously.

Mere steps behind, Sophie exited with Perdix tucked safely in her backpack. The group proceeded down the hallway and back into the classroom, where an irate Mr. Campbell tried to resume teaching his class for what little remained of the block. He directed most of his anger at Sophie as she returned to her seat.

"And why, Miss-- Miss-- Young lady, where have you been?"

"There was a fire outside so I pulled the fire alarm."

Poor Mr. Campbell stood with his mouth open like a fish. A few of the students giggled, but Sophie was not among them, nor were Leta, Acacia, and Jace. All four had seen the enemy they were destined to fight. Today was no laughing matter for them; it was the first day of a war.

   [1]: http://www.geocities.com/sailormyth/
   [2]: http://
   [3]: mailto:admeapiett@aol.com
   [4]: mailto:bgklein@msn.com
   [5]: mailto:chandra722@aol.com
   [6]: mailto:tamichan@crosswinds.net



	3. Again for the First Time

Hello, and welcome to the collaborative fanfiction of [Sailor Myth][1], an online role-playing game based on Sailormoon, but with different senshi and a different location. Our game takes place in the city of Roanoke, Virginia, and our senshi are named after everything from Greek and Roman deities to stars, constellations, and angels!

Our purpose in posting our chapters up here on ff.net is twofold. First, we'd like to get some feedback on our writing, and second, we're always looking for new players to join us! If you're a writer, we'd love to have whatever senshi is running around in your head join our menagerie.

For more information, please check out our [main page][2], or send an e-mail to [Emiko][3], our GM. She'll be glad to answer any questions you may have! Thanks for your attention. We hope you enjoy the show!

**Chapter Three:**  
Again for the First Time

_by [Greg][4] and [Tami][5]_

* * *

"So we down for tonight?" the blonde young man asked mildly. He and a girl stood in the middle of an empty hallway.

"Yeah. I have to work until six, but call my house around like ... a quarter to seven," the raven haired beauty before him nodded and smiled.

"No doubt," he promised, and sighed. "And now it's time for practice."

"Not looking forward to it, wimp?" the girl teased.

The blonde boy scoffed. "Not at all. Shit, I'm tired. I wanna go home and take a nap."

"That too bad, Zachy. Get your ass poolside." She lightly shoved him away. He looked down at where she had touched him with mock disgust, and hastily wiped his sweater. She scoffed and pushed him harder.

"Yo, stop pushing me, or you will get no sex tonight, Selena," Zach yelled. 

"Oh, you really know what a girl wants, stud," she replied dryly, and began walking away. "Call me later." 

He promised once again, and broke into a light run toward the gym. Practice was sure to take forever today. It always did when he looked forward to something. He then suddenly remembered that he promised Phaeton he would patrol tonight. Senshi business?

_Not till after my date, lizard._

Suddenly, he heard the footsteps of someone running up behind him...

_I'm late, late late late late late late late LATE!_

Wade Salter was distressed, nervous, and had a watch accidentally set ten minutes early. Swim practice apparently started five minutes earlier; in such a state as he was in, he noticed too late a very surprised-looking guy whip his head around in the hallway.

It was too late to change course, and Wade had far too much accelerating body to stop or even valiantly try to slow down - the result of which being that he launched himself directly into the poor boy, knocking both flat onto the ground.

Both landed to the ground, wind knocked out of them. "Ugh," Wade grunted, mortified. "Hell - " he rolled off the much smaller figure underneath him, landing on the tiles of the corridor. "Crap, I din't mean nuthin', I was late, so damn sorry..." he tried to apologetically wheeze.

"Damn, yo!" Zach pushed off the floor, springing to his feet. He whipped around to face the wheezing giant in front of him. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" the blonde boy screamed, looking up at his assailant. He was fully ready to throw down with this guy, but from the pathetic look on his face, he decided against it.

"Yo, you're so friggin' lucky I got swim practice, Lurch. Watch your back." Zach warned, and turned to start running again...

Pulling himself off the ground, Wade mentally kicked himself for being clumsy as WELL as being an incredible dumbass, but his mouth split in a smile, showing a dimple. At least someone else was horribly late. "I have pract, too, Shorty," he said comfortably to   
Zach's back. "R'we on time?"

Zach came to a dead stop, just outside the gym lockerroom. 

"Shorty?" he snarled. "Just because you were born for Ripley's Believe or Not, doesn't mean that I'll hesitate to beat your sorry ass." He stared into Wade's grinning face. "You're on the swim team? Jeez, your knees must hurt. The coach's office floor is hard."

Wade gave him a blank look, which Zach missed.

With a smirk, he turned and went to change. There was something about this kid that he inherently just didn't like. He irked him somehow. _He seemed cool... why is my hostility cranked to seventeen?_ Zach wondered as he opened his locker...

The blue-haired boy managed to open his locker a discreet distance from the blonde one. _Bad vibes,_ he thought seriously. _Vibes stinkin' to high hell._ Something about that guy made him want to pick him up and shake him until what was wrong came out of his pockets - the mere feeling of him made his hair stand on end, yet he was as attracted to his presence as a... as a... magnety thing. Oh, well; he'd tried to be friendly, but the feeling had just gotten worse with each passing look!

_What is this guy looking at?_ Zach thought as he felt the blue-haired boy's eyes on him. _I don't like this. I got a bad feeling._

_Maybe I shouldn'tve called him Shorty. Maybe I'm jus' feeling guilty._

Wade changed quickly and sped out to warm up in the pool with the other guys. As always, the water made him feel clear-headed and confident, safe within it's grasp; he mildly disliked chlorine, but hey, bodies of water were bodies of water.

Zach soon followed, meeting up with his friends, standing at the edge of the pool.

"Yo, who's the new kid, MJ?" he asked the taller boy next to him.

"I don't know. I never seen him before," MJ answered.

"That kid's a freak." Zach sneered, looking at the kid glide past him.

"Shit, as long as he's fast, I don't give a damn. Since Keith is out for the season, we need fast people."

Zach shook his head, and continued to watch the boy swim. He WAS fast; his form and technique were flawless. Not better than his own, of course, but good enough. 

A shrill whistle pierced the chlorine-filled air, and the swim coach barked the order for everyone to do thirty laps. Zach sank into the pool, making sure he was next to the blue-haired boy. He wanted to prove to himself that this kid was beneath his attentions.

Inky, dark-blue eyes met a pair of sun-bright green, and in a heartbeat Wade had pushed himself off powerfully from the wall into the water. The pounding rhythm filled his ears, but it was all lost in the feel of the churning his arms made making powerful, cutting strokes, and the deep, quiet bubbling of the water below him. Body forgot that it was not up to proper form, having not swum for the previous year; soul remembered how to embrace the waves. Wade dimly felt the presence of the blonde boy beside him, as light and as quick in the water as a sunbeam, mere feeling an unspoken challenge. The water bubbled with their combined, repelling force. 

This guy was no joke. Zach would've doubted there was someone even swimming, save for the powerful trail of bubbles that his adversary left behind. He's like a wave, Zach thought, a tinge of fear creeping into his body. He combated it with a turn of his head, swallowing as much air as he could. You may be the water, but I am the light. He quickly curled forward, whipping his legs upward and shoving with all his might against the pool wall, twisting into form once again.

People in the bleachers began whispering and twittering as the two figures slammed off the side, one blonde head bobbing in the water as the other's pale blue practically disappeared in it. Soon the two were both neck-and-neck as the spectators - and the coach! - began watching intently.

Wade slammed his arms into the water, arcing through it like a blue bolt of electricity. The boy did the same; wonderment and not a little adrenaline buzzed throughout him as he realized that the other was _good_ - quicker than anything he'd ever seen. Wade could normally outdistance anyone with his powerful, scooping strokes and kicks, but the other was matching him with his light, sharp quickness. He'd never met somebody who he thought might beat him! Rather from being jealous, Wade practically beamed.

_Hope I don' go so fast my shorts fall off,_ his mind added as an afterthought.

Chlorine water burned his eyes, and seemed to be doing the same to his lungs. _I... won't... lose,_ he thought, devouring a bit more oxygen. His calves were lead, and threatened to surrender. Through the bubbles, their eyes locked, and rage fueled Zach's body. _The dumbass is smiling._

His eyes weren't even remotely hostile. That made Zach even madder. _What do I have to do to piss this guy off?_ The thought blazed through him. _I know...I'll just swim past him,_ he thought confidently. Amazingly, his body obeyed. His arms slashed through water, propelling him forward at fantastic speed, and his legs rippled, sinew and muscle melded together to create a human propellor. And slowly but surely, Zach edged past him, and the wall was in his reach.

Wade noticed the boy managing to race in front of him with almost superhuman strength, water churning into foam as they both approached their goal. His smile grew wider and he would have laughed had he wanted to disturb his breathing; could he win this over?

The blue-haired boy crunched himself up carefully and then _lunged_, hand practically extending his arm inches longer in his effort to reach the wall. Water and body were one, muscles rippling in power so intense it was sweet agony, a wave of water splashing onto the tiles from the pool as he and the blonde reached their goal. Both their hands smashed onto the wall at the same time, maybe Wade a microsecond behind, maybe the other. Who cared? He wouldn't dispute anything; the swim had more than made up for any shallow humiliation gained by losing.

Spectators broke out in piercing whistles and applauding as Wade and the other grabbed the wall. Wade stretched and looked at his knuckles, bleeding from the force at which he'd slammed his fingers to the tile; he gave the boy a rueful, friendly grin. "Hurts." He brushed a lock of hair away, plastered on his cheek; somewhere along the way his hair tie had come out and his pale hair was now plastered down his neck. Extending the damp, blood-trickling right hand, his eyes sparkled like the water that was swirling around them. 

"Good swim, eh?" Wade asked gently.

Using the last of his strength to push his pride aside, he took a firm hold of his opponents hand, ignoring the blood that gushed between them. "Yeah...you're pretty swift. No hard feelings... I guess."

They turned toward the crowd, and Zach made a victorious gesture, flopping around the water before emerging. The coach grabbed a handful of both of their shoulders, and excused Zach and Wade from practice, with the promise that they would kick ass at the meet on Saturday.

Zach started back to the locker room, when a sharp pain made him yelp in pain. He looked down at his hand, and the splotches of fresh blood on the top of it burning it. He ran into the bathroom, and quickly washed the blood off. What the hell was that supposed to be? _I knew it,_ Zach thought, all feelings of comradiery vanishing. _Something's up with that kid. And something tells me in runs a little deeper than swimming._ Wade himself hurried back to the locker room quickly, pleased at the way things had gone. _I shoulda race more often with that guy if it'll get me out of pract so early._

Pulling another hairtie out of his bag, he tied up his sodden blue hair and rubbed his face with his towel. Getting dressed in his jeans and t-shirt in record time, he slung his pack over his shoulder and squeezed on his sneakers.

_Hope Livvy doesn't try ta make me patrol jus' cause I came home early; I'm beat!_

* * *

After arriving home, Zach immediately consulted with Phaeton.

"You say his blood burned your flesh?" the iguana asked, peering at Zach through the thin wall of glass before him. His charge didn't immediately answer; he first finished tying a gray bandana around his head, tucking the fold behind the knot. He stepped toward his guardian's tank, and presented his hand. Four red patches of burned skin marred the top of it. Phaeton flicked his tongue once, and his tail jerked, a sure sign that the lizard was deeply pondering.

"What could've done this, P?" Zach said finally.

"I have a pretty good idea," Phaeton answered.

The blonde gestured toward himself. "You gonna share, or am I supposed to phone a friend?" 

The iguana made a low guttural sound. "Legend has it that the hatred the Senshi had for their enemies ran so deep, even the blood of their foes caused their body harm," Phaeton explained. "It is possible that this boy could be..."

"A Roman Senshi?" Zach gasped.

"A RomaNUS Senshi. Not all of them are necessarily from Rome."

"That explains why that kid bothered me so much," the blonde contemplated. "So what's the move?" Zach asked, turning away, and flopping onto his bed.

"The move, Zachary, is you going on patrol in one hour."

Zach huffed. "No way, P. That kid wore me the hell out. I'm thinkin' eight hours unconsciousness is the ticket." The lizard slowly crawled forward, peering across the room at him.

"One hour."

"Hour and a half."

"One..."

"NO! SO SORRY SO SORRY NO SPEEKE DE ENGLEESH!" Zach yelled, burying his head beneath his pillow.

* * *

Back on his own bed, trying to eat his dinner, Wade Salter was having similar problems. "I don' wanna go tonight, Liv!" he almost wailed, stabbing a meatball with his fork.

"And ai do not want to eat generic fish food! You must go, dahling!"

"Hai hmn wimmingh mnknm..." Wade swallowed his mouthful. "Liv, I'm tired. I had swimmin' practice. I swear, there was this guy there, an' he went like a shot, even if he did give me the wiggies - "

"... the wiggies?"

"Made me feel funny."

"Well, then!" she practically screeched, her voice reaching flawlessly into squeaky soprano range. Livia would have done well as an opera singer. "You MUST go, my dear! It could be an Angelus! Or an Astronomiah! Or worse, a Graikos! If you cannot go for duty, go for me, dahling!" Quite proud of her speech, Livia swooned.

Wade swallowed his last forkful of spaghetti and put his plate down on his desk, sighing deeply. "Hokay, Liv. But I gotta be back at twelve, see? Mom's gonna be home then, an' the twins'll wonder where I am - "

"That should be sufficient, dear." Livia smiled placidly, having got her way. "Would you be a dahling and place me back? I need my beauty sleep."

Shrugging on a jacket morosely, Wade scooped up the black and orange turtle and plopped her into her tank. He shut his door carefully and strode into the corridor down from his room. "Danny! Simon!" he shouted. "I'm gonna go out for a coupla hours, hokay? Jus' gettin' some stuff!"

Agreeing grunts were heard from a bedroom and the TV, respectively. The blue-haired would-be knight of Neptune left his house and began strolling down the sidewalk to find a private place to transform. His muscles ached, and sometimes he really, really, REALLY wished that they'd picked someone else.

* * *

A yellow circle with four tendrils on each side of it appeared on his forehead, and Zach spoke. "Hyperion Titan Power...Suit UP!" 

In a cascade of white and yellow light, the boy stood ready in a shining suit of red armor, seething with energy.

"Keep your eyes open, Hyperion Knight," Phaeton warned. Hyperion nodded, and made his way toward his terrace. The moon was full in the sky, and a few scattered stars shone down. He easily hopped over the railing, falling ten feet down and landing in the backyard without a sound. His aunt and uncle were downstairs in the den, watching a movie. It would be safe to be out for at least a couple of hours, he thought as he sped on foot. He pushed off the ground suddenly, and he was airborne. 

Hyperion landed on the high roof of one his neighbors as softly as possible, and proceeded as so, bouncing from roof to roof. He thought he would start downtown, and work his way back up.

* * *

Neptune-Knight had already made it downtown, crouching on the roof of a tall building; his triton was gripped in one hand as he surveyed the area for anything that looked even remotely suspicious. He'd transformed in a quiet grove in the park, scaring quite a few birds, and was now armoured up in his silver guards, tunic and bodysuit. The sunset gleamed off his bright silver armguards and greaves.

There wasn't anything suspicious for almost an hour, except if you counted passers-by and a fight between two sparrows. Neptune was crouching in a slight stupor, almost asleep on his feet when a bright streak of red appeared on the opposite roof. The hair on the back of his neck prickled.

Picking up his triton, he stood to his full height and began speeding after the shiny red blob.

_Let it be Romanus,_ he almost unconsciously prayed. _Please, let it be Romanus._

The sinking feeling in his gut told him that it wasn't likely. 

* * *

_Am I being followed?_ Hyperion asked himself as he glanced back slightly over his shoulder. His legs were pumping faster than he had intended; almost like he was being...chased? "Hell no," he whispered, diving headfirst into the alley below him, his arms spread and legs together. The littered ground came rushing at him quicker than he could've imagined. Instinctively, he twisted his body, his armored hand shooting toward a windowledge. His fall averted, Hyperion gave a worried glance upward, and pulled himself onto the ledge, crouching into it. 

Hidden, the senshi's ominous white eyes watched the sky above. _Let's see who my new friend is,_ he thought sarcastically. He already knew that whoever it was, they were anything but.

Neptune began to panic. Suddenly the red blob had disappeared, right before his eyes! 

The blue-suited boy jumped over the alleyway, giving his unseen attacker a flash of blue and silver and Neptune another case of   
wiggies so hard his palms began to hurt. Standing on the building above, he stared down at the crack between the the two, knowing there was something down there... something... something that definitely didn't like him.

Filled with dread, Neptune approached the end of the building, triton clutched tightly within his grasp, and stared down... 

After waiting for an eternity, Hyperion breathed a sigh of relief. _I must've given them the slip,_ he thought, sneaking close to the edge of the ledge. _I played that asshole, whoever he was._ He hopped down effortlessly, landing with a wobble into the dank alley. Hyperion felt the eyes on him before he looked up. His head slowly tilted upward, and locked eyes with him. He snarled, springing upwards once again, descending back onto the roof, and face to face with his ancient enemy. 

Neptune's heart was pumping so fast that he was half-afraid the red-armoured knight could hear it. The other knight's eerie white eyes made him want to almost turn-tail and run screaming back home to Livia, but... 

The blue-haired knight tried to get a hold of himself and slipped back into the Neptune consciousness, knight of the oceans, king of the sea. He took his trident and banged the butt of it three times on the ground, steadfastly facing the knight in front of him. "I am the knight of Neptune, Romanus Senshi of the sea," he proclaimed, his deep voice whispery-soft. "Who are you?" 

Oh boy, Hyperion swallowed. This guy was no joke. The night wind blew his long blue hair around his shoulders, and the raw power of the ocean flared around him. Okay, Zach, it's time to turn on the dramatics. "I am the Knight of the Raging Star, Harbinger of Dawn...Hyperion of the Graikos Senshi," he growled, a colorful fiery aura exploding around him on his last spoken word. In a flash, he leapt toward the stars. Like a comet overhead, he rained down destruction. "Shining Dawn!" he screamed, rays of light falling from his aura towards his opponent.

Struck by the powerful beams, Neptune reeled back, stunned. He fell back onto the roof, completely surprised as well as hurt - things had happened so quickly! A few words, then bang bang bang and his head was pounding like crazy and his arms were burnt...

Luckily, his armour and his triton had absorbed most of the blow; the attacks HAD been light, but not fire, so they had not done as much damage as they might have. Stumbling to his feet again, eyes slightly crossed, Neptune shuddered at the pain coursing through his body. Lord knew he didn't want to fight.

Tumbling expertly just before hitting the ground, Hyperion quickly whipped around, assessing how much damage he had done from behind. The guy was still standing, but he didn't look as regal. That's the ticket, he thought. I gotta attack him from all directions; I can't let him even breathe. His aura flared once again as he thrusted both hands in front of him, sending another barrage of light beams towards his opponent.

_Why are you doing this?_ The question kept gnawing at his brain, and kept him pulling his punches. This wasn't right; why was he attacking someone he didn't even know? His instinct had taken over as soon as he had faced the spear-wielder. No...not instinct...something deeper. Something older. 

Neptune held on in vain for as long as he could, until he was stumbling from the blows and until the hands that held his triton   
were trembling. He fell to his knees, finally, burnt and broken, unable to stand up any longer. A slow whisper was building up inside him until it became a roar, until he could no longer stand to face his attacker.

_Attack him!_

_He's innocent,_ he thought desperately. _Innocent. Human. Innocent. Human._

_HE IS GRAIKOS! ATTACK HIM!_ his instinct screamed.

The ocean roared violently in his eyes, storming deep suffocating blue. Neptune stood shakily to his feet, then let out a wail, keening and as deep as the churning deep below the sea.

"Neptune Crashing Tidal-Wave!"

The triton flashed silver as it dug into the cold concrete of the roof, not reaching into it's rooms below, but rather the magical   
current that bound Neptune to all things. Eagerly the saltwater responded to his plea; it gushed up powerfully, raging, destroying!

The wave grew in the blink of an eye until it was double Neptune's height, and double that, and double that - and then it engulfed the hapless Hyperion in it's choking, watery hand. Saline spattered Neptune's cheeks; tears or spray? 

_I'm home._ The thought bought an unimaginable happiness that sang within him. _It was just a weird dream. I'm home, surfing back in New York. I must've just wiped out hard. Where's my board?_ The water rushed through his lungs. Dark and cold and unforgiving. Even more, unfamiliar. HIS ocean would never treat him this way. Suddenly, he was slammed into the deep sea floor, his head flashing with fresh pain. Sand wasn't supposed to be that hard.

It was when the water subsided that the harsh reality set back in. His eyes burned, and when they finally agreed to open, the moon stared back down at him. I'm on the roof...and that asshole just hit me. Hard. His body rocked forward as he rose shakily to his feet. Dripping from head to toe, not even the wet hair flopped over his eyes could hide the seething rage.

"I eat those for breakfast..." Hyperion spat. Before Neptune could take in the sight, his enemy was upon him, hammering him with a flurry of kicks and punches... 

With as much force as he could muster, with a blackened eye and a split lip, Neptune pushed the armoured knight off him with the butt of his triton. He staggered backward and held it out defensively, prongs bright and sharp in the moonlight.

"I don' wanna fight you," he started, and set his jaw firmly. "but Lord help me if I don' use dis on ya if you don' run home."

"Run? From you? Unless you got something better than an overgrown fork to deal with me, I ain't goin' nowhere," Hyperion retorted, settling into a fighting stance. His bravado was purely external. He had almost zero juice left for another Shining Dawn, and that wave attack had knocked him worse than he thought. He was struggling just to stand. Still, the question nagged at him. "I don't know why I'm fighting you," he said suddenly, surprising even himself. He stood tall again, looking down at the tar. 

Slowly, Neptune's triton lowered itself, until he was standing with it flat against him. "Because yo'r Graikos," he said, trying to keep the quaver out of his voice, fear inciting him to keep his grip on his triton in case the other made a sudden move. "An' I'm Romoma - Romanus," he corrected himself. "S'what my Guardian said I had t'do. My duty. She screams at me if I don'," he added as an afterthought. 

"Damn, your guardian's got you whipped." 

"Don' I know it."

Hyperion laughed a bit, and then went sullen again. "We're supposed to be ancient enemies, as far as I know. I won't lie," he explained. "There's a part of me that wants to reduce you to ashes." Hyperion looked up at the sky, the shame overtaking him for a moment. 

"An' there's a part of me, screamin' for your blood," Neptune whispered, then threw his triton down in an uncharacteristic show of rage. Hyperion jumped back a bit, hoping that the blue-haired boy didn't notice. 

"Damn it all! I don't wanna fight you - don't want to fight anybody! I wasn't cut out for this fightin' bis. I mean, I go to school nearby an' everything," he pleaded desperately, more to himself than anything else. "I don't even think I'm able to leave you bleedin' without bandaging you up. As for killin' - " Neptune gave a great shudder and turned away. "Can't handle it. Not you. Yer... too young," he explained feebly.

"Dude, I can't take this... I want answers," Hyperion explained, coming to a sudden conclusion. "And I'm gonna find 'em." He locked eyes with the sea senshi. "But I promise you this...if I get a good reason to take you down...then kiss your ass good-bye. Meantime, I'm gonna concentrate on finding the others that...that are MY kind." He turned away. 

"Wait a sec!" Neptune called out.

Hyperion turned.

Staring at his triton, seeing his reflection in the bright depths, the blue-haired senshi didn't dare to look at the other knight. "There's a lot of senshi," he began slowly, searching for the right words. "They might try t'kill you right away, hey? You might find the wrong ones. Like some Romanus, or those other ones... Ack... As... Oh, I forget," he muttered. "Anyway, we're both alone. Maybe if we tag along together, we can...?" Neptune's awkward speech ended on a despondently hopeful note. 

Hyperion nodded solemnly, and pondered. "You might have something there..." he admitted. "We can be partners. Like Batman and Robin...Buffy and Angel...Yogi and Boo-boo!" His face brightened, as he stepped toward the sea senshi. "What the hell. Let's break the rules...partners?" Hyperion held out his armored hand. A smile split Neptune-Knight's face, practically showing off his tonsils as he gripped Hyperion's hand tightly. "Partners," he agreed firmly, then his brows furrowed as his smile turned into a slight smirk. "But -you- can b'Buffy," he hazarded shyly, as if almost afraid to make a joke.

The smile never leaving his face, Hyperion's aura suddenly flared, engulfing the two of them.

"Sucker," he snarled, swinging his free hand around, gathering energy. With a growl, he unleashed three bolts of energy directly into his opponents solar plexus. Neptune careened backwards, off the edge of the roof. 

"Phew..." he breathed a sigh of victory. Walking to the edge, he looked down at the dank alley where his enemy lay. "Like I would EEEVER become partners with a Romanus. I'm not that dumb. See you around, asshole." He turned, and leapt into the night, back home. He had alot to tell Phaeton. 

* * *

Ooh, now _that_ pissed him off.

Not a lot pissed Neptune off. But being lied to? Being attacked, by a handshake - God, it was almost like being stabbed in the back. Hyperion knew nothing, nothing, even less than he about the cause! At least... at least he knew about honour, and, and stuff!

Hurt and burnt and rather in shock, Neptune lay on the cold concrete of the alley until the dawn was showing pink in the sky. Were all Graikos like that? Perhaps they were; perhaps Romanus were fighting them 'cause... because they were the Bad Ones. Livia had told him that. Had Livia been right?

Finally, in more than a little agony, Neptune picked up his triton and began to scale up to the roof, slowly. It had to be later than midnight - man, his mom would be so incredibly worried, it wouldn't be funny, even to the twins. Ouch. That felt like a sprained ankle to him... Getting back was a long, arduous process, and he felt burnt and frizzled and severely beaten up. His only little hope was that Hyperion felt the same, and he still felt guilty about being that spiteful.

Even transforming back to normal form was painful, and the moment he got through the door, there was his mother on the couch drinking coffee and looking as if she was about to burst into tears. She took in his black eye, his split lip, his bruised body with random red burns; Wade was glad she couldn't see the blistered flesh beneath his t-shirt.

As was predicted, she burst into tears, and Wade had to hold her off for half an hour with a story about running into a gang. Then he had to try and stop her calling the police, which was a magnificent feat in itself, but successful he finally tromped off to bed and shut the door.

"Wade," Livia whispered, the blinked. "Wade - Wade, you look awhful! Did yoo - "

"G'night, Livia," Wade said, and slid into his bed. 

The world seemed darker, as if there were Graikos hiding behind every shadow, and all he could see in his mind's eye was his so-called ally, smiling as he engulfed them both in burning sunlight.

Tired as he was, it was a long time before he slept.

* * *

Slithering through his window, his armor evaporated in a wave of light across his body, illuminating his dark room for a moment. The back of his head hurt...and his shoulder was having a tough time rotating. He had won the fight (by playing the serious asshole card) but he definitely didn't walk away unscathed.

Zach shed his clothes, and crawled into bed with his wifebeater and boxers. A rattling suddenly cracked outside, as he sprung from his bed. The sigil shone bright on his forehead as he glared at his open window, fully prepared to be hit by another tidal wave. After waiting a moment without moving, Zach breathed a sigh of relief, and collapsed back in bed. 

"Anything to report?" a raspy voice broke the silence.

"Yeah. I just almost got my ass handed to me by a Romanus," Zach croaked.

"Ah, so you finally encountered one, eh? How did the battle go?" 

"I won." 

"Did you kill the Romanus?" 

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

Zach sat up quickly, clenching his teeth at the lit tank in front of him. "I don't KNOW. Leave me alone. I'm tired." The iguana fell silent, and sleep finally had mercy on Zach.

   [1]: http://www.geocities.com/sailormyth/
   [2]: http://
   [3]: mailto:admeapiett@aol.com
   [4]: mailto:lexusdreamz@aol.com
   [5]: mailto:tamichan@crosswinds.net



	4. Benign Bedlam

Chapter Four

Hello, and welcome to the collaborative fanfiction of [Sailor Myth][1], an online role-playing game based on Sailormoon, but with different senshi and a different location. Our game takes place in the city of Roanoke, Virginia, and our senshi are named after everything from Greek and Roman deities to stars, constellations, and angels!

Our purpose in posting our chapters up here on ff.net is twofold. First, we'd like to get some feedback on our writing, and second, we're always looking for new players to join us! If you're a writer, we'd love to have whatever senshi is running around in your head join our menagerie.

For more information, please check out our [main page][2], or send an e-mail to [Emiko][3], our GM. She'll be glad to answer any questions you may have! Thanks for your attention. We hope you enjoy the show!

**Chapter Four:**  
Benign Bedlam

By [Tami][4], [Chandra][5], and [Crys][6]

"Jamie," said the doctor in a soft, soothing voice as he produced a small flashlight. "Follow the light if you can."

Jamie remained unresponsive.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"Um, well, I went into the bathroom at school," she mumbled listlessly. "I was in there for a while. Then I fainted, I guess; I don't really remember."

"So, doctor, what do you think is wrong with her?" asked Jamie's brother Marcus. Their parents were on vacation.

"I'd say she has a severe concussion, very nasty." The doctor ran a hand through his reddish-blonde hair, then scribbled something on the clipboard he was carrying. "A concussion, sprained wrist. She's also in shock. Are your parents in town?"

"On vacation. In Paris."

"Well, I'd recommend contacting some relatives close by. I'd like to keep her overnight-" The doctor checked his pager, then made a quick phone call. Making a face, he said, "Damn. I have a patient in the ER with severe burns and lacerations. Mr. Banning, the best thing you can do for her is go home and try to get some rest; I'll have an aide get her to a room, and she'll be released in morning."

Wade had only gotten half an hour of sleep the previous night, slipping in and out of half-forgotten nightmares until the pain got the better of him. It had been fine coming home; he was drunk on fright and adrenaline and had been in too much shock to feel the pain.

He'd forgotten that burns kept on burning unless you stopped the heat. Most of them hurt like hell, but some he couldn't feel any more, and that scared him... and whenever he closed his eyes Hyperion's burns just kept on burning him, killing him, making him writhe in agony; every time he closed his eyes all he could see were the soulless burning white eyes, and the grin as he was pushed off the building, down into darkness -

Pulled out of another feverish dream, Wade screamed his pain.

Pauline Salter flicked on his light, and for the second time that night, almost burst into tears.

To the harsh unnatural light, every aspect of his beating could be seen; he'd thrown off the covers and there were enormous purpling shadows of bruises everywhere on his body. Dried blood dribbled in places and his hair was stiff with what seemed like saltwater; but what she had not seen before were the burns, weeping and ugly.

"That's it," she murmured, more to herself than her half-awake son. "I'm getting an ambulance, Wade!"

As she sped out the room, the blue-haired boy groaned and made a supreme effort at stumbling over to the fishtank. It worked, barely, and he squinted through two black eyes to snag a small toy bucket, a relic from Danny and Simon's younger days. With great effort, he scooped her up in it, taking weed and water.

"Livvy," he murmured through swollen lips. "Livvy, y'gotta come with me. There could be Romanus at the hospital, or, or, or he could follow my mom, and you said you could identify 'em, please, Liv - "

"A'im heah, Wade," she announced grandly. "Ai will protect yoo! Fear not!"

That was as much as he could do before everything started to go really rather blurry - the ambulance, the white walls, and then the doctor. Wade didn't mind.

Staring down at the sheet of paper in his hands, Asa Jason let out a sigh and shook his head. It was another boring and pointless day, when he was forced to run over to the nearby hospital by his parent's will right after school and work there as a volunteer aide. Even a few dollars would have made the job all the more interesting, but he didn't earn so much as one cent. The job was a complete waste of time, in his opinion...especially when patients came stumbling in, seeking out medical attention after being involved in some fight they were most likely responsible for.

After having read the medical conditions scrawled down onto the sheet, the dark haired aide lifted his narrowed eyes up towards the blonde girl in front of him. She was currently resting in a wheelchair, as standing up at the moment would not have been healthy. Suddenly diverting his attention towards the other man—the girl's brother, he assumed—nearby, Asa questioned,

"Fainted in the bathroom, huh?" Grabbing hold of the bar attached to the wheelchair, he paused for a moment, before continuing, "what did she do, hit her head against the toilet seat a couple hundred times as she fell? Not bothering to listen to the reply, had there even been one, he then promptly departed from the office, directing the girl towards her assigned room. Fainted in the bathroom? What a likely story! It looked more like a fight, in his personal opinion.

What greeted Asa as he stood face to face with the white polished door of Jamie's room for the night was a sign, indicating whom the current residents within were. There were two names typed neatly onto the hanging piece of cardboard, one belonging to that blonde girl in the wheelchair. The other read "Wade Salter," a name which he heard mentioned quite a bit around members of Patrick Henry's swim team, but couldn't quite recall the face it was associated with.

"Mr. Jason?" a woman's voice suddenly spoke up from behind, "since you're going to be in there, would you mind checking on the other patient? He's suffering from horrible burns, and his mother is quite worried about the whole thing. Just make sure that he's comfortable." A grunt was the only response the doctor received, before Asa pushed open the door in front of him and wheeled Jamie in. He took his dear time doing so though. At least the working hours *seemed* to pass quicker that way.

As everything started to get fuzzy, Jamie thought she saw Venustus flying around out of the corner of her eye. But she wasn't quite sure, as she was far too busy staring at the aide; to say he was attractive wouldn't do him justice. Forcing her eyes open, Jamie thought, "God, he's hot." For a moment, she wondered if the effects of that one Graikos' spell had gone away completely; then she thought, "Well, maybe I'm getting better." Jamie was still staring when Asa left the room.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" said Venustus, perched on the window sill. Jamie ignored him. "We need to discuss something-"

"This is all your fault, Venustus! If you hadn't made me fight all those Graikos senshi, maybe I wouldn't be in this situation! Where are all the other Romaus senshi you claim exist-"

"Watch out! Someone comes!"

Dark-haired and harried, Pauline Salter entered the room and gently deposited a toy bucket by the bedside next to Jamie's. Only now she noticed the occupant next to her; all she could see were the legs where they made the bump in the blanket. The feet almost poked out the end of the long hospital bed.

The woman sighed and petted her son's forehead gently, murmuring more to herself than her unconscious son. "I've brought your turtle, though the Lord knows why you need it so much; I've got to go home now so that Daniel and Simon don't worry, but I'll be back later in the day. Doesn't seem like you're going anywhere, Wade," she added wryly, then exited the room again.

The innocent-looking toy bucket began to wobble slightly as watery noises emanated from within; it seemed that the occupant was anxious to get out.

As the door shut behind the distressed woman, the entire room grew quiet. Not a sound could be heard except for the steady breathing of the two occupants within, their rhythmic gasps ringing through the air. Somewhere nearby, sounds of water splashing mingled in with silence, but it was merely disregarded by Asa as the noise of a patient in another room using the sink. Satisfied, he turned and reached out for the doorknob with a slender hand, only to be stopped; by what, he couldn't be sure. Suddenly, all throughout the vicinity, there was a ringing in his mind...a feeling which seized hold of his entire body and refused to let go...or that he didn't want to let go of. What was worse though, was the presence which seemed all too familiar. There was no way to describe it...déjà vu was perhaps the closest, and yet, it just wasn't that. No...it was something more.

Placing a single finger against his temple, Asa willed whatever he was feeling to disappear, all the while repeating over and over, *Nothing's wrong...I'm just working too hard. This is what happens to people who work...just working too damn hard.* Finally, it seemed to work, and what was bothering him died away somewhat.

Meanwhile, the sounds of splashing water had ascended.

"What now?" the dark haired student questioned, receiving no answer in return. It was just as well, as he definitely wasn't expecting one. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he made his way over towards the source of the noise, paying little attention to the bird resting on Jamie's windowsill. What greeted him was a plastic toy bucket, the sides of it rocking, along with...

"A turtle?" Asa exclaimed, loud enough to awaken the two patients, had they even been sleeping. Grabbing hold of the bucket forcefully, he raised it up towards his eyes, jolting it in the process. "What the hell is he doing with a turtle?"

"Jamie!" Venustus said in a low voice, "It's him."

"Who?" she said in a loud voice. She remembered other people were in the room and lowered her voice; she didn't want anyone (especially the aide) to think she was crazy. "Who?"

"Aesculapius Knight! Or, Aesculapius, whatever he wants to call himself now. I'd bet my life on it!"

"I'm willing to make a deal on that one." Jamie whispered dryly.

Asa's train of thought was broken by what he thought at first was a squawk: "The same reason a bird is perched in the window sill!" The ill-tempered dove fluttered through the air to land on the dark-haired boy's shoulder. When the aide shrugged the bird off with force, Venustus said "Ow. You must be nicer. Malice will get you nowhere at this point."

Jamie assumed since the aide had heard Venustus talk, she had nothing to lose. "Venustus, get over here *now*, before he thinks he's having a hallucination from inhaling too many hospital fumes. Tact isn't in your vocabulary is it, feather-brain?"

A squawk rivaling even that of the dove's had emanated from the little turtle, who had crawled up out of the bucket and was clinging for dear life onto Asa's hand. "Whai, really! I do agree with the young lady, deah! Ai had this situation perfectly under contro-al, and now the poor young man must be scared half to death..." Turning to the 'poor young man', Livia gave her brightest turtle-smile. "Whai, hello dahling; isn't it a nice day out? Dreahdfully sorry about that bird, he mustn't have any manners to speak of. Now, AI know the importance of good manners, especially when talhking to nice young Romanus such as your-self - "

Watching a bird fly up to him and speak human words was one thing, but the turtle currently hanging off of his hand was too much. For a second Asa froze, the only movement throughout his entire body being his dark orbs, which were flying back and forth between Venustus and Livia. He soon broke into frantic motion a few moments afterwards though, shaking his hand repeatedly while backing up against Wade's bed, until he nearly fell upon the blue haired patient. In an attempt to make sense of the situation, he exclaimed,

"Let me guess...you're both ventriloquists, right? That must be it. And you were bored so you decided to fake your injuries and both managed to snag the same room together...however you did that, I don't know and I couldn't give a damn about anyways." Completely ignoring the turtle which was still attached to him, Asa then proceeded towards the door as fast as his feet could take him. Not bothering to turn back, he continued,

"Now you two can just stay there and practice with your little animal dummies yourself. I'm finished here and you won't be seeing me anytime soon, so help me God. I'll even send another aide down who you can play your little "Let's Have Our Pets Talk" game on her and we'll all be just positively happy."

"This is ahll -yo'r- fault," bawled Livia to Venustus, then took a closer grip on Asa's arm. "Whai, really, deah, do calm down, and please sit down som'where, you're mahking me sea-sick! When ai get nauseous I simply go jaundiced, deah, so please let me talk to yoo and don't wave me a-round any more." The little turtle beamed her most kindest, nicest, smiliest smile on him, which didn't work too well even if she had practiced it in front of the mirror. Frequently.

"It wasn't all my fault," Venustus retorted, "You didn't-" Jamie roughly clamped a hand over the dove's beak.

She waited for her irritation at Venustus to subside before she said anything. when she felt a bit better, she said, "Uh... I hate to interrupt you," she said, staring half staring at the turtle and half staring at the turtle's owner (_He's so...tall_, she thought), "But who are you?"

"That sounds like a perfect idea for us all," Asa growled, his hand gripped firmly around the doorknob, "why don't you *both* tell *me* who you are so that I can report you and then leave ASAP without thinking that I'm Dr. Doolittle." Hesitantly, he backed away from the exit and roughly plucked Livia off his hand, dumping her onto the nearest object, which just so happened to be Jamie's bed. Then, slumping lazily against the front wall, he shot that particular glare which he had practiced all too often on most of the people in his school and prodded, "Go on, just don't take too long. I'm not in the right mood for a long drawn out explanation. Oh, and just because you're lying dead to the world," Asa pointed a finger sharply towards Wade's bed, "doesn't mean that you can't answer. Why don't you just let your little pet turtle talk?" It was clear that the dark haired aide refused to believe animals were talking to him, and it would take more than just the odd familiar feeling he was currently experiencing, to convince him. Much more.

"Whai!" Livia exclaimed indignantly, but crawled up onto Jamie's knee so that she didn't have to crane her neck. "Ai," she started, with perfect pomp and dignity, "ahm Livia, the Guardian of the Romanus Neptune Knight, which just so hahppens is mai boy Wade down theah sleeping. You're Sailor Cupid, aren't you, dahling?" Livia gave a gracious nod of her head towards Jamie. "Ai'd imagine that's her guardian over theah." Livia stressed the word -imagine- as if she hoped it wasn't true.

"And yoo." Livia turned back towards the dark-haired Asa, turning on her full turtle charm, voice rising like an opera singer. "Yoo! Yoo are Aesculapius, the senshi of healing! Yoo are a grand Romanus soldier, who will overthrow the Grrraikos, and raihse triumphant with us over those who oppose us!" What with that grand speech, Livia decided to swoon a bit.

Never let it be said that Wade Salter had no timing, for he chose at that moment to respond to Livia's shrill declaration and roll over to face the others, blearily half-opening his eyes. "Huh?" he stated intelligently.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Asa muttered under his breath.

"Well...Wade..." said Jamie hesitantly. "Meet the very...grumpy...Aesculapius."

"Grumpy? Me?" Asa retorted sarcastically, "I couldn't be happier in my life! After all these years...the animals are finally responding to me! Excuse me while I go throw a party."

While Jamie was trying to think of something else to say, Venustus decided to intervene. "Well, nice to meet you too, Livia. Now we stand three-Romanus strong..." As Venustus continued to babble on, the dark-haired aide made an attempt to slide out of the room unnoticed; Venustus did notice (unfortunately), and screeched, "And *where* do you think *you're* going?"

Turning around with his hand once again wrapped firmly around the doorknob, Asa wondered why no matter how many times he tried, he could never manage to actually turn it and slip outside. It was, after all, his third attempt at the current moment, and he was almost inclined to believe that there was a curse on the darn thing...not that it would be any stranger than talking turtles and doves. Eyebrows furrowed and fists clenched, the incredibly annoyed aide sputtered,

"Where am I going? As long as it's away from the Doolittle room, I'm happy anywhere! I sure hope you don't expect me to stay though, especially not after having that turtle shoot some sort of bull about me being a Roman guy who I had to study about in fifth grade." Pausing, Asa drew away from the door yet *again* and returned to leaning against the wall, which he had personally proclaimed as the only place of sanctuary in this godforsaken room. Head leaned back and dark brown orbs gazing up at the ceiling, he announced,

"Now this can go two ways. You can say something that makes sense and doesn't include anything about knights or sailors at sea, or you can keep blabbing on about what you mentioned before. Either way I'll leave, but I might stay a little longer if you can convince me that I didn't accidentally volunteer to work at the local asylum. What's your choice?"

It had taken a while for Wade to gel, but once he took in the talking birds and the swooning Livia, he looked like a little boy at Christmas. He sat up, albeit afterwards a bit shy when he realized all he was wearing on his top half were bandages and there was a -girl- in the room, but he soon recovered. "Livvy! Are these guys Romanus, too, y'know?"

"Yes, deah, they are," she affirmed grandly, and looked at Asa beadily once again. "Unfortuntely, this nice young man heah seems to be having a bit of trouble coming to terhms with everything - "

"You better believe it," Wade interrupted immediately, all eyes on Asa, tone serious. "'Cause it's real. I was beaten up last night, y'know, by one of the enemy people, see - " the blue-haired boy immediately went for his bandages for Show And Tell.

"Wade!" shrieked Livia. "Stop! You'll hurt yoh-self!"

He obeyed, but he still excitedly fidgeted in bed as if he wanted to get up and prove the damn thing to somebody who wasn't a talking animal. "Well, you gotta say these words to become who you are, I'm Neptune - what does he say, Liv?"

"He will say, 'Aesculapius Deus Power, Make-Up!'" Livia prompted.

"Yeah, that." Wade looked at Asa with puppydog eyes. "Try it? Please?"

Flashing his deadliest glare at Livia and Wade, Asa felt as if his nerves were about to split right there and then. What little patience he had started out with had been used up on accepting the fact that some animals--particularly doves and turtles--could speak, and all that was left of it was a thin strand that had been stretched too many times for comfort. Gritting his teeth and resisting the urge to strangle one of those animals with his bare hands, Asa stated, "First of all, I personally think that all of you have been watching the Sci-Fi channel just a *bit* too much. I hate to rain on your parade, but one, people can't turn into something else like they do in the movies, and two, I wouldn't say 'Aesculapius Deus Power, Make-whatever' even if people *could* turn into superheroes." Having hopefully gotten his point across as blunt as he could, Asa considered his next move. Leaving the room had always been the most appealing choice for him since the very beginning, but he had resisted mostly out of curiosity about just how delirious these two hospital residents could be. It wasn't curiosity which was holding him back this time though. Instead, it was the thought of what would happen the next time he re-entered the room. The chances of him not having to visit this same room again for a variety of different reasons ranging from "making sure the patients are comfortable" to bringing in their food was slim, and God knows what new stories the two of them would bombard him with the next time he entered. There had to be a way to convince both person and talking animal that what they were saying was complete nonsense.

That's when Asa had an idea.

Smirking with the knowledge that he had finally won this battle, he announced, "Since I wouldn't believe you if you each paid me a million dollars and you're both—no, all *four* of you—still think that you're in fantasy land, why don't you say your phrases and *show* me? If anything interesting happens, I'll say the stupid phrase, 'Make-up' and all. If not...well, then you leave me alone and I can go back to hanging around with the sane people of this world."

"Well," Venustus said brusquely, "It *seems* like a fair deal." Turning to Jamie, he said "Being as though Neptune is severely injured, you do it."

"Why is it always me?" Sensing Venustus would go into a long lecture concerning the honor it was to be reawakened as a Romanus and one's responsibility in regards it to that honor, she decided it was best to just go along with it and spare everyone's sanity. "*Fine*....". Jamie grabbed the chain on which her bow-crossed-with-an-arrow pendant hung and yelled: "Cupid...Deus...Power...Make Up!" Jamie tossed the pendant as far in the air as the low ceiling would allow; then, looking up, she waited for the pendant to dissolve into golden light. On cue, the arrow fired itself from the bow, causing a brilliant beam of golden light to engulf the small room. The light eventually faded and Jamie was left in her fuku, bow in hand. "There...happy? Anything else, oh Grumpy One?" she said with enough sarcasm so there was doubt as to whether or not she was referring to Asa or Venustus.

"Sailoh Cupid!" Livia announced grandly.

The blue-haired boy grinned weakly at the newly-kitted Cupid and then lay back again, feeling his bones pop and gritting his teeth. "I don' think I can transform, Livvy," he apologized.

"A'hm sure Cupid's enough," the turtle reassured him and turned back to Asa sternly. "Now do yoo believe, young man? Whai, first you make poor Cupid transform and she's MOST injured and mai poor Wade is practically dy-ing in his own bed - " her voice reached a particularly screechy level.

Eyes focused blankly somewhere in Cupid's general direction, Asa ignored the obviously upset turtle and forced his jaw to move in time with what was currently running through his mind. It took a few moments, but finally a single response was uttered, "Impossible." Jamie agreeing and then transforming before his eyes had been the last thing that he had expected. Had she spoken her phrase and then realized that nothing was happening, he would have laughed. Had she suddenly made up an excuse and pushed him out of the room, he would have been more than obliged to agree. Had it been *anything* else, he would have known how to deal with it. It hadn't though, and here he was, standing before a girl who had instantly changed her clothes in a flash, accompanied by what he hoped was just a an assortment of special effects.

The truth was staring him right in the face, but how he hated to be proved wrong, especially by something that belonged in the sci-fi channel. With a roll of his eyes, he proclaimed, "I don't remember the last time they announced that there was going to be a movie filmed at this hospital, but you can leave me out of it. I'll say your dumb phrase, nothing will happen, and then you'll all leave me alone and get back to your twilight zone show. Agreed?" He hated to do this, hated to give in to those crazy nutcases, but if it was the only way—and he had run out of other ideas, mind you—to get them to stop bugging him, then so bet it. Furrowing his eyebrows and gritting his teeth, Asa spoke in his most bland tone, "Aesculapius Deus Power, Make-up." One second. Two seconds. Nothing was happening, much to his relief. "I'm *so* sorry, Ms. Turtle and Mr. Dove," he responded sarcastically, "but it looks like I'll be going now. If you need anything else, feel free to give us a buzz and we'll be sure to ignore you." With the feeling of victory rushing through his veins, Asa turned away from the patients...only to be stopped by a blinding flash of light.

The light was everywhere, occupying every single space and practically grabbing at the very clothes of his body. He wanted to fight it...wanted to shove it away, but it seemed as though it was controlling his body itself. His arms refused to move, and his legs were no help either. Instead, they reacted themselves, reaching up forwards towards the heavens and closing around a metallic object. What happened next passed in a blur, being a series of blinding light, flashing light, and more light. He lost track of the path his arms took on their own will, and it was only until the brightness had faded away that he realized what had happened. He had changed. "Welcome back," his body seemed to remark. As if not feeling that this greeting was enough, a giant amount of weight fell directly into his open palms, which unfortunately had not been prepared for the moment. Giving way to the metallic object, his hands tilted forwards and what apparently was a staff suddenly jammed against his right foot. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he instinctively crouched forward towards the ground, face red with the mixed feelings of anger, embarrassment, and satisfaction. Thus was the ever so graceful entrance of the Romanus soldier of healing. Aesculapius.

Venustus fluttered across the room to land on Aesculapius' shoulder. "Well, well. Do you believe us now?!? Why must you be so stubborn and skeptical-"

"Venustus," interrupted Cupid looking up from her current activity, spinning her bow in circles from one end of the weapon (which was ruining the linoleum and creating a rather annoying scratching-squeak noise), "Didn't you say that he'd not-"

"Silence! As I was saying, you must believe us now. You cannot deny your destiny!" The dove looked around the room for support.

Livia rose to the challenge. "Whai, yes! Your destiny as the healer of the wounded soldiers of the Romanus, the curer of the ill that is the Graikos! Bandage to the Graikos wound! Salve to the Graikos ache! Medicine for the Graikos sickness!"

"Band-Aid for th' Graikos zit," Wade offered with a grin.

Livia gave him a glare that would have melted rock.

The blue-haired boy ignored his turtle and with an immense effort, rolled out of bed, first gently shaking Cupid's hand gingerly, then giving Aesculapius a more hefty pat on the shoulder. "Welcome to the team," he said softly. "It's hell, but I'm glad t'be workin' with you, ya know? It's a death-wish workin' alone. We have to be together. A team." Pain burnt in his dark eyes briefly, but then he relaxed back and sat on the bed, bones popping. "I'm livin' proof of it."

"Yes!" Livia shrilled. "Look at what happens without assistance! Look at mai po'r, po'r Wade!"

Though both Venustus and Livia had spoken ecstatically enough for every one of their words to be heard from the next room and beyond, Aesculapius's mind had been blank most of the time. He did hear the occasional "something-or-other to the Graikos-pain" screeched out by Livia, but other than that, he was completely oblivious to the world revolving around him. Instead, all he could think about was the shock. It was the shock of realization...the shock that perhaps what this room full of loonies had told him was true after all.

Releasing his grip around the staff and letting it crash down towards the ground, Aesculapius half ran and half stumbled over towards the mirror hanging in the bathroom. Positioning himself in front of it, he blinked at what he saw. It was him...yes, it was Asa...and yet, there was something different. The hair wasn't quite the same, and the clothing had changed completely. Aesculapius blinked at his reflection for a few seconds, before what he was seeing finally reached the thinking portion of his brain.

"What the hell happened?" he exclaimed, turning away from the mirror and glaring directly at the other with him. Running his fingers through his now grey hair, he continued, "What happened to me...and just what are you blabbering about? Graikos this, Roman that! Healer to the Graikos wound and such. It's bad enough that I have to work in this dumb hospital, but when my hair starts turning grey and my clothing starts turning metallic..." Pausing for a quick breath, Aesculapius leaned back against the wall and practically slid down to the floor. It was humiliating to act this way, but with what he had just experienced...

"Just someone tell me what's going on," he moaned.

Before Venustus or Livia could start up again, Wade squatted down besides Asa, mind racing at a million miles a minute to explain the entire thing. "We're Romanus," he began slowly. "We're Roman gods, or somethin', an' we fight against the Graikos, who're Greek gods. We're also 'gainst the Astronomia an' the Angelus, who are stars an' angels or somethin'. We fight them 'cause..." Wade bit his swollen lip, then shrugged. "'Cause it's them or us, an' they're not afraid to hurt us, see? There're a lotta long complicated reasons why we fight but I don' understand most of 'em 'cause I'm kinda dumb. But if you're one of 'em, you just gotta fight the others, and that's that. That's right, ain't it, Liv?"

Livia, looking most perturbed that she couldn't give a long involved speech, sniffed. "Ai suppose."

"Why *are* we all fighting?" asked Cupid the room at large, staring off into space, seeing everything and focusing on nothing. "You know, us, the Graikos, Angelus, and Astronomius-"

"Astronomia." Venustus corrected.

"Whatever. Why are we all fighting, besides the fact it's survival of the fittest? You've never really told us anything beyond 'attack them before they attack you.'" And what's to be gained for the last team standing?"

"Well, you see, it all started long ago when-" Venustus started.

"And what can he do?" Cupid asked as she gave a nod in Aesculapius' direction.

Quite pleased to interrupt Venustus, Livia preened herself and nodded her head to the blonde. "Aesculapius is a -heahlah-!" she declared. Staring around at a host of expectant faces, she realized the mere fact that she had announced something was not enlightening them enough. Sigh. Since when had the Romanus been so... dim? "Ahs well ahs the innate power of heahaling by touch, Aesculapius has so'more offensive powers against others, but he mah-jors in support techniques. Laike 'Healer's Touch', if ai recall." Livia looked smugly at Asa. "Yoo maight want to try that one, deah. It shall heal one of yoour comrades!"

"A heal-ah?" Aesculapius repeated shortly in a poor attempt at Livia's accent, his right eyebrow raised. The disbelief of what was happening had long faded away after he himself had transformed, but that didn't mean that he had to be pleased. Perhaps possessing the powers of some dead Roman person wasn't so bad, but...a healer? Possessing the powers of Jupiter or Pluto wouldn't have been so bad, but of all things good and holy, he had to be a healer? A healer was the sort of person who spent all of their weekends tending to those who had injured themselves. A healer was weak and timid, who liked to stay in the background of everything. That surely wasn't him!

Rolling his eyes, Aesculapius questioned in a clear tone of sarcasm, "And just how am I supposed to do this? Repeat 'Healer's Touch' and wave my arms around to send the magical faery dust floating about?" At the same moment these words were doubtfully spoken, he felt a warm rush of energy suddenly engulf the palms of his hands. With surprise in his eyes and a quick glance down, he took in the full sight of...water? No, not water. Water could never have that shade of gray, and he was almost sure that it didn't sparkle. Well, at least 50% sure.

Holding his hands up in front of Livia, he shot a puzzled glance at her as if asking just what he was supposed to do with this liquid which had mysteriously appeared. Oh...he would have liked to ask out loud as well, but there was just something about talking to turtles with accents that he just wasn't comfortable with yet. He suspected he would never be either.

Livia beamed so hard, you would have sworn it was -her- who cast the spell. With a gracious nod of her head, she gestured towards Wade, who was beaming expectantly at both of them. "Undoo your bandages, deah," she cooed at him.

The boy nodded, gritting his teeth and unhooking the toothed catch at the side. With great delicacy and many winces, he slowly revealed the rest of his toned, tan chest - but the rest of it wasn't pretty.

Angry, streaky red burns covered his chest, the skin moist with the cream applied by the doctors. If one could train their eyes upon the ugliness of the wounds long enough, a pattern would appear - the burn was in the shape of someone's hand. Smaller blisters were peppered over his ribs and upper torso, marring the skin.

The little turtle looked at them reverentially - the marks of a warrior! - before turning back to the grey-haired healer. "Place yo'r hands up-on Wade's chest," she commanded. "Po'r the liquid ovah his wounds."

"Eww," Wade said cheerily. "Poor Asa. They're gross."

With great trepidation - the marks were indeed unappetizing - Aesculapius opened his fingers to let the ever-shifting liquid trickle onto the angry burns. Although there didn't appear to be much in his palms, the liquid kept flowing until the burned areas were covered, then abruptly petered out when he consciously felt the job was done. Wade stopped gritting his teeth when the liquid began to sink in, cool and soothing, abruptly cutting off the tight ache.

"Wow," the blue-haired boy beamed, fascinated. "Neat."

Asa was quite interested too, but as he took his hands away, he closed his eyes out of fatigue. Who would've known that one bit of grey liquid would have taken so much out of him?

As Wade bandaged back up his wounds, Livia nodded proudly at the healer. "Very naice," she congratulated him. "A troo thing o'beauty, ai must say."

"Whatever," Asa grumbled, but his heart wasn't in it. "How do I get out of this stupid uniform now?"

"Just thaink of yo'self before you changed into Aescuulapius, deah. Concentrate."

"And click my heels three times?"

"S'real easy," Wade encouraged.

Finally - after three moments of concentrating - it was gone, and he was back in his nurse uniform, which for once in his life was a great improvement of what he had been wearing five minutes ago.

Thank God!

"Now, yoo too, Jamie - Jamie?"

Everyone looked over. The concussed girl had curled up asleep on her hospital bed, her Cupid fuku having dissolved away in her unconscious state, back to her plain plastic gown. Wade got up and gently pulled a blanket over her.

"Smart girl," he murmured softly, then looked at Asa. "Y'shoul' go home an' get some rest, too. I remember how beat I was after my first go at transformin'. Hokay?"

"Fine, yes, fantastic. I'll just say I'm sick or something." Asa had never been sick in his life, but for the first time, he gloomily felt he might finally know what it was like.

"Wait. What's yoo're full name, deah?" Livia interrupted.

Asa adjusted his glasses, privately thankful to also be able to see again. Aesculapius had been blessed/cursed with the same eyesight he had. "Jason. Asa Jason. Why?" he added suspiciously.

"So thaht we can contact yoo," the turtle added firmly. "Yoo're a part of the team now, deah."

How absolutely charming. "Great," he said wearily, too tired and too confused to argue.

"See y'later, Asa," Wade beamed, clambering back into bed. "T'anks."

Asa mechanically moved out of the room and closed the door behind him. He'd just been ordered about by a talking turtle, saw a girl transform into an indecent skirt and a lot of pink, and poured magical grey goop over somebody's burns.

Maybe he should take up drinking.

   [1]: http://www.geocities.com/sailormyth/
   [2]: http://
   [3]: mailto:admeapiett@aol.com
   [4]: mailto:tamichan@crosswinds.net
   [5]: mailto:chandra722@aol.com
   [6]: mailto:glass_angels@yahoo.com



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